A self-service terminal (SST) is generally defined as a machine that is suitable for allowing a user to conduct a transaction or to access information in an unassisted manner and/or in an unattended environment. An organization that deploys a SST may provide human assistance and/or supervision for users of the SST. However, SSTs are typically designed so that assistance and/or supervision is not required.
Access to self-service terminals for visually impaired users often requires an audio lead through to guide a user through their transaction at the terminal.
Typically, jack plug sockets have been provided into which a user can plug an audio output device, such as a set of headphones or a mobile telephone, to allow the output of the audio lead through. This arrangement has the inherent problem that the visually impaired user must find small the jack plug socket on the fascia of the SST. Also, the wire for connecting the headphones to the jack plug socked can become tangled and must be untangled prior to connecting the headphones to the SST. Clearly, untangling a wire can be problematic for a visually impaired user.
Additionally, there are issues regarding the rights of the visually impaired user not to be distinguished from other users, particularly as criminals may consider a visually impaired user to be more vulnerable than other users. The use of special equipment, such as a headset with a wired connection to an SST, identifies the user as visually impaired.
Wireless connection of audio output devices to SSTs has been proposed, for example via Bluetooth. However, the proposed connection schemes have problems associated with them.
In one proposed scheme, each SST stores a register of the addresses of all possible devices that may connect to it in order to allow it to poll for devices in its vicinity and, if a device is found, verifies that the device has permission to connect to the SST. This would require the dynamic updating of the register at each SST via network infrastructure. Dynamic updating of the SST registers involves the frequent transfer of a large amount of data over the network infrastructure which affects network efficiency for transaction verification.
An additional difficulty is that identification (ID) number used in Bluetooth to verify a connection between the SST and the audio output device has to be the same for all SSTs. Clearly, having the same ID number for every SST in a network compromises the security of the SST network.
Alternatively, a specific ID number could be defined for each user and appended to the register entry for each audio output device. This results in an increase in the volume of data that must be transferred across the SST network, further exacerbating the problem identified in relation to the register based solution hereinbefore.